to the rapacity of Hyder Ally, or the avarice of any of the Company's servants, they would undoubtedly say so; but if they were to mix opinion with their report; if they were to go farther, and enter into an investigation and arraignment of the conduct of particular persons, they would exceed the powers given them by his motion: all that he conceived to be their duty, was, to report, that they had examined such and such witnesses, read such and such papers, treaties, &c. and so on; and upon that report it would be the business of the House to proceed; therefore, he could not agree that they were to report opinions. Upon this, Mr. Fox desired the motion to be read; when it turned out, that they were not only " to inquire into the causes of the present war," but also directed" to report their observations upon it." Mr. Fox ridiculed Lord North for not understanding the motion which he had made, and for saying that men could ascertain the causes of the war without exercising an opinion. He concluded, with moving an amendment, by leaving out the words "of secrecy."

Mr. BURKE seconded the motion. He said, that now the noble lord understood his case, he would certainly comply. He had been like a lawyer; he had spoken from a brief which he had not previously perused. It was often his misfortune to be obliged to defend measures which he did not advise; but now the appeal was made from Philip sleeping to Philip awake, he trusted he would adopt the amendment. The noble lord, he said, proved the necessity of abandoning a committee of secrecy, and proposing one that should act under the inspection of others; for as he had misreported his own motion, how could he, if he should be one of the committee, fairly report their proceedings? In short, the predicament into which he had brought himself was this; he had attempted to impose upon the House, and on the world, a mode of inquiry by which there would be a mockery of justice; and when the fallacy of this was detected and exposed, he flew to subterfuge, and endeavoured to misrepresent what he could no longer maintain. Such, he said, would always be the wretched resource of weak art.

The House divided on Mr. Fox's amendment: Yeas 80: Noes 134. The original motion was then carried without a division..

AFFAIRS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

May 9.

THIS HIS day Lord North apologized to the House for being under the necessity of moving to discharge the order for taking the affairs of the East India Company into consideration; but such was the state of the negociation between him and the directors, that though he could not say with certainty that propositions were made on their part, which he, as an individual member of parliament, could undertake to pronounce altogether fit to be submitted to that House, yet there was a great probability of such propositions being before him in a few days. He therefore hoped the House would permit the order to be discharged, and renewed for that day week. Upon this,

.

Mr. BURKE rose with a degree of unusual warmth, and said, it was high time the noble lord should determine the business one way or another. Were they to have the matter of a renewal of the Company's charter submitted to them this year, or were they not? It was idle, and a contempt of parliament, to talk, on that day, of bringing a subject of so much importance before the House this session. Gentlemen knew what sort of attendances were likely to be given after that day; and if they had turned their minds to the subject at all, they must be convinced that the affairs of India formed a consideration extremely intricate, weighty, and comprehensive; a consideration which would require much discussion and much inquiry. For the noble lord, therefore, to come down week after week, and say, the directors were not ready with their propositions, was treating parliament with contempt; the

directors perfectly well knew what sort of bargain they could afford to agree to; it was absolutely trifling with the House to ask for another week. Did he mean really and bona fide to inform the House next Wednesday, how matters stood between the public and the Company, or did he not? It was high time that an end should be put to the fallacy. The minister well knew that the charter must be renewed; and therefore though Leadenhall-street might be to blame for being so tardy, still the minister was not less so for not bringing the matter before parliament. The business was, perhaps, of the greatest magnitude of any that had ever been discussed within those walls, yet there was not a single paper moved for, by which the House could be directed in forming a judgment: they perhaps would be called upon to declare to whom the territorial acquisitions and the revenue in India belonged, whether to the Company or the crown; and they had not a single document before them, which might assist in forming an opinion on the subject. It looked, therefore, as if the minister wished to cheat them into a judicial decision, without suffering them to hear evidence. The minister was endeavouring to draw a revenue from the Company; but was he taking any steps to secure them from bankruptcy, by supporting their credit? Whatever might become of their investments, if the territorial revenue was taken into the hands of the crown, bills must, and would come from India on the Company; their credit must be supported, or the idea of a revenue would be absurd. The House ought either instantly to come to the subject, or to call for such papers as would give them an opportunity of informing themselves on the point, that when they came to discuss it, they might not be as much embarrassed as the noble lord in the blue ribbon seemed to be. His conduct on this occasion had been highly disrespectful to the House, as well as injurious to his country; and when the present motion was disposed of, he should think it would be proper to move, that the House should on Wednesday next proceed to inquire into the conduct

of the noble lord in the blue ribbon, with respect to the East India Company.

The order of the day was discharged; and it was moved, that the business be taken into consideration on Wednesday next, which was agreed to.

Mr. BURKE then rose, and said he knew not whether be should conclude with a motion or not, but possibly a motion might grow out of the conversation, and that would be perfectly consonant with the order of parliamentary proceedings. He then went into a warm discussion of the present state of the East India Company's situation, and asked the noble lord, whether, beside making a new bargain with the Company, which must, he said, be a bargain in the air, he had turned his mind to preparing a sufficient support for the Company's credit, supposing that on the arrival of news from India, bills should be drawn on the Company to a large amount, and a substantial support from government should be found necessary? He said it was notorious that the commerce of the Company was not a source of great profit, that all their presidencies were in debt, and that bills would be drawn upon the Company in Leadenhall-street, for the investments of ships now on their way home. He stated the necessity of keeping up the credit of the Company, and strongly urged it as a matter worthy the noble lord's most serious consideration. He contrasted the conduct of Lord North with the conduct of the Company, and contended, that though the noble lord did not seem to have taken the proper pains about the business, the Company, as soon as they knew it was to come before parliament, had chosen committees, and referred the whole to their inquiry and examination. The noble lord, he said, ought to have been ready, for he knew the business must be brought forward, and he had scarcely any other matter of importance to engage his attention all the session. Were gentlemen in any degree prepared to enter into this business; which, from its com

plex nature, and extreme delicacy, required the steadiest heads and the firmest hearts? In the year 1767, when this matter was fully and maturely investigated, there was a body of evidence, and an inquiry, which enabled gentlemen to go into the business with some degree of knowledge; but of the few who attended to that inquiry, he believed there was no one who now remembered it. He apologised for the warmth with which he had spoken, and desired the House not to impute it to bad temper, but to its true motive, a little elevation of that spirit and that indignant feeling, which every member of parliament ought to glow with, and must necessarily glow with, when he saw the minister presume to insult the House of Commons, and treat it with contempt.

The conversation here dropped.

May 23.

Lord North moved, that the order of the day, for the House to resolve itself into a committee of the whole House, to take into consideration the affairs of the East India Company, might be read. This motion being put and carried, his lordship moved that all the papers relative to the proceedings of the general court, in respect to the renewal of the Company's charter, then on the table, be referred to the consideration of the committee, and that the Speaker leave the chair. The House having resolved itself into the said committee, Lord North proceeded to lay before them the future views of government with regard to the Company, and concluded his speech with moving "That it is the opinion of this committee, that the three-fourth parts of the net profits of the East India Company, at home, above the sum of 8 per cent. per annum, which have accrued from the time that the bond debt of the said Company was reduced to 1,500,000l. belong to the public; and that 600,000l. in lieu thereof, and in discharge of all claims on the part of the public, be paid into his majesty's exchequer by installments, in such manner, and at such times, as shall be agreed on." After the motion had been opposed by Mr.